DEVITO WILL PLAY `PENGUIN' AND KEATON WILL REPRISE HIS ROLE IN BATMAN SEQUEL

Actor Danny DeVito will play the role of villain "Penguin" in the sequel to the box office smash "Batman," with Michael Keaton reprising the role as the Dark Knight, Warner Bros. officials announced.

The sequel is set to begin filming in August in Los Angeles."We feel extremely fortunate to be able to pair Michael with a star of Danny DeVito's magnitude for our second Batman," Mark Canton, executive vice president of Warner Bros. Inc., said in a statement.

Batman was Warner's biggest motion picture hit and the fifth largest grossing picture in history, earning more than $251 million in the United States and Canada. The foreign box office take was more than $155 million.

Tim Burton, who directed the original film, will direct the sequel.

Denise Di Novi, Burton's producing partner, will be its producer. The screenplay is by Dan Waters and is based on Batman characters created by Bob Kane and published by DC Comics.